The "fix" is in: legal and malpractice standards regarding the treatment of athletic injuries

Abstract

You are the physician. You are licensed to diagnose and treat physical injuries. But, when it comes to treating athletic injuries, the rules seem to change. The patients, often professionals, are trained and expected to "play through pain," and when they cannot, they want an immediate "cure" allowing them to "get back in the game" as soon as possible, which may fly in the face of the ethical issues surrounding proper medical treatment. What then, faced with this dilemma, are the legal and the medical standards for physicians surrounding treatment of sports-related injuries?